


When Olympus falls... it's time for the Titans

by kanronotatsu



Series: The Titans [1]
Category: Olympus Has Fallen (2013), Olympus Has Fallen (Movies)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-19
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-03-31 07:32:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3969459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kanronotatsu/pseuds/kanronotatsu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A brash CIA agent on a mission gone awry finds herself taking over the White House on the side of the terrorists. There is only one way she can get out of the mess: team up with Banning and help him save the day… or die trying.</p><p>Mike Banning/OC, rated for language, blood and gore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

What started as a quite simple mission in North Korea turned into my worst nightmare pretty fast. The first vague impression that something big and possibly very dangerous was happening came when they wouldn’t let us out of the premises. I wanted to buy cigs, or at least that’s what I told the guards, but they only pointed their automats on me in silence. I retreated. The chief told me that we were explicitly forbidden to leave the compound, which was not good, since I had to report back to ops regularly. Well, that was impossible now. I got my cigs either way and had to smoke them too, sometimes I wondered which would kill me first: a mission gone awry or the bad habits my aliases had?

The second upsetting and scary happening was when they showed us some plans of a building and told us we had to memorize it by heart. At first I didn’t recognize the building in question, but after a week or so, which we spent in earnest learning of every nook and cranny of the plans, I suddenly became very aware that I was once in this building. I spent two whole nights trying to picture the halls and rooms in my mind according to the plans, and I noted with growing anxiety that we were learning the floor plans of the White House. Now, that could only mean that I was in some very deep shit this time, with no hope of getting out unscatched.

I started to take long strolls around the premises, circling the buildings, smoking my cigs relentlessly, pretending to ‘air my lungs’ and generally being casual. I looked for a way, just a tear on the wire somewhere, so I might slip away for half an hour to give my report. There was no opportunity at all, to my greatest chagrin. I cursed the tight security of the North Koreans to hell several times, but decided to play along as long as I could. There was nothing else to do, but to keep smoking, get familiar with security protocol, and practice combat techniques and my shooting, waiting for the big day, when we will attack the White House.

* * *

That big day was even bigger than I expected. My team was disguised as the South Korean PM’s security detail, causing a bit of a surprise among the Americans that I, as a white woman, was there too. But with that other white man among us, who once used to be Secret Service as I got to know, I think they got over this fact pretty quickly. After all it wasn’t uncommon for former soldiers to be employed as mercenaries and security personnel all around the world. That was my cover story too. I tried to tell one of the Secret Service agents that these Koreans he sees weren’t a friendly bunch at all, but when that jet breached the perimeter I lost all his attention. My team was focused and I feared that they would notice me talking to the Americans after this point, so I had no chance to alert them. It was hell, watching them get slaughtered by the terrorists, I could hardly keep myself from throwing everything to the wind and side with them, even if I knew I would’ve been killed in seconds. When we were supposed to turn on the Secret Service agents guarding us outside, my stomach turned on the thought that I have to shoot one of my own people. When I brought my mark down on the ground - we each got our respective agents, like a fun game of tag, except the fun - and held my gun to his head I looked into his eyes and saw the defiance. I just couldn’t pull the trigger. Looking up and around for some kind of help, my gaze met with one of my teammates, he urged me to get it over with. It was unusual of me to hesitate, being the mercenary they all thought me to be. There was nothing to do, there was no escaping. I pulled the trigger.

* * *

Nearly two hours later we were in complete control over the House. My team was sent for recon, and to find the President’s son, Connor Asher and bring him to the bunker, where the boss of the terrorists were holding the American officials hostage. My plan was to remain alone with my team, and eliminate them, then somehow, some way or another get to the bunker and… something, I didn’t really had time to work out the details, but I had to do something. My conscience was heavy with that one American life I took so far and I didn’t want to get in another situation like that. Fortunately for me, I wasn’t the only one alive from the American’s side. Apparently, I have no idea how, but one sole Secret Service agent was alive, kicking, shooting and altogether doing a pretty good job of reducing the numbers of the terrorists. We were ordered to find him too and now I saw an opportunity to get out of my team and side with the agent. Maybe the two of us at least could make a difference in the situation. However small that difference might be.

The Asher boy was apparently hiding inside the walls of the House, at the living quarters. I yelled at the others when they started shooting blindly, warning them that we need the boy alive, not pierced with a thousand bullets. One of us got shot and then we all knew that that agent was with the boy. I was glad, and started to see some hope when the chief decided that we should split up and search the lower floors individually. Finally I was alone and could follow my own agenda. I stumbled upon one storage room shortly, with a set of stairs leading down into it. I almost stepped out and declared it clear when it struck me that the grid from the air vent hole was taken down and leaned against the wall. I quickly recalled the floor plan and noted that the hole was leading up to the surface straight. A perfect place to get a small boy out of the House unseen. I tapped the radio in my ear and called in that I found nothing while I walked down the stairs. When I looked around I didn’t notice any movement, so I guessed that the boy and the agent were gone already. I walked to the air vent to look up, letting go of my gun, when I heard rustling from behind. I spun around only to meet with a fist blown into my face. It got me hard on the temple, making me dizzy in a second, I lost my footing and stumbled back into the wall. I raised my arms instinctively, trying to fend off the next blow, but it was lower than the previous one, aimed at my stomach. I doubled over and it was only by pure chance that I saw the knife and could dodge it before he stuck it into my neck.

“Wait!”

I caught the eyes of the agent, steel blue and cold, determined, which didn’t mean any good for me. I decided to fight back, so I aimed a blow at his temple while holding down on his hand which was still threatening to stab me with that knife. He was moderately surprised by my attack, not that it hurt him much, but at least I got his attention.

“I’m CIA, I’m with you!”

I saw hesitation in his eyes, but he became less intent on killing me immediately, which was good.

“CIA?”

“Yes, CIA.”

He produced a gun from somewhere and pointed it at my head. I put my hands up, reluctantly, for who knows when he will try and kill me again, and in that position I was pretty helpless. How ironic would it be to have been killed by the person I wanted to help? It crossed my mind that the only reason I was still alive is that he didn’t use his gun in the first place. I guessed he didn’t want to make much noise. Lucky me.

“We’ll see about that.” he murmured and stepped to the vent hole, sticking his head in and urging someone to go.

The boy was apparently still in that hole, I walked in on them at the worst possible moment. The agent, whose name I still didn’t know, stepped back, not taking his eyes off me, and now I saw that he had a bluetooth device sticking out of his ear.

“He’s coming out, Jacobs.”

He watched the wall anxiously, and gave me side glances, full of suspicion. The gun was still pointed at my head so I dared not to move a muscle. I looked him over to pass the time, he was tall and bulky, a faint shadow of a stubble already visible on his strong jawline. He had those deep-set greyish blue eyes which made him look like he was brooding all the time, especially now that his brows were furrowed. All in all, he was just my type and I couldn’t help thinking that if we had met in any other situation, I’d have probably already tried to seduce him. He saw me staring and gave me a queer look, to which I just smiled my most innocent smile. His brows only furrowed deeper. Finally he seemed to get the message that the Asher boy was safe, for he was visibly relieved. Then he turned all his attention to me.

“Jacobs, could you get hold of the CIA?”

I shook my head, just anyone wouldn’t do, they needed my immediate superior.

“Tell them to look for Assistant Director Brown.”

He interpreted my message to the other side then we waited. After half a minute or so agent anonymous nodded to something he heard on his earpiece then turned to me.

“Name and ID number.”

I hesitated for only a fraction of a second, which resulted in him pressing the gun to my forehead.

“I won’t ask again.”

“Agent Lee Cameron, number 6058872, codename Nickel.”

I knew I had to add my codename too, even if he didn’t tell me to. I guess this was a kind of test on its own and was very glad when the gun finally left my forehead. He even put it away which meant I was cleared from suspicion for the time being.

“Yes, hold on, I’ll put you on speaker.”

He fished a phone out of his pocket and punched the speaker button.

“Agent Cameron?” I heard the Assistant Director’s voice coming through the phone.

I cannot even begin to describe how I felt finally hearing the voice of someone familiar.

“Yes, sir.”

“We haven’t heard of you for five months, what happened?”

“Sir, we were under strict surveillance, there was no way I could get out a message, without compromising the mission.”

“I see. Wait a minute.” the other side went silent.

I glanced up at anonymous, he seemed somewhat more genial towards me, but I guess to erase his suspicion entirely, I had to prove myself first.

“I don’t even know your name.” I said.

“Banning.” came the curt reply.

The phone started to talk again.

“Agent Cameron, can you tell us anything about these terrorists?”

“Nothing much, sir. The mercenary team I infiltrated was hired by them especially for this mission, and they had us memorize the plans of the House.”

“What about their leader?”

“Never met him, sir. We were only in contact with an intermediary. They kept us in a factory compound for those five months, with no connection to the outside.”

“They were very clever.” Banning put in.

I shrugged, if you want to attack the White House, you at least should be able to conceal your plans.

“Is there any chance that you can get into the bunker, Agent Cameron?”

I mulled that one over in my head. There were possibilities, yes, but all of them were of the suicidal nature and should only be tried out as a last resort.

“Well… It’s not impossible, sir, but I should like to see what we can do from the outside first.”

“Alright, Agent, your mission is now over. Assist Banning in everything, get the President out of that bunker.”

“Roger that.” we said in unison with Banning.

He put away the phone and turned off the bluetooth too. We were on our own.

“Nickel?”

I sighed, if I had a goddamn nickel for every person who got stuck on that codename, I would be rich.

“Because I can shoot a nickel tossed in the air from fifty yards.”

He hummed, I saw he had other questions he wanted to ask, but that had to be postponed to when the White House was not in the hands of some North Korean terrorists. I got my headscarf off, the thing bothered me nonstop from the moment I put it on, but my alias was a headscarf kind of woman. I gathered my hair in a ponytail, and slowly shed all the layers of the fake persona I had to assume for almost a year. I saw that Banning noticed the change too, I knew that my facial expressions, posture and even my tone would be changed now. Like a new person had just been born from another.

“What’s your plan?” I asked him, now completely my own self.

“Will your group come looking for you?”

“Probably. We’re not really attached, but it will be suspicious if I don’t turn up sooner or later.”

“Give me your radio.”

He held out his hand to me and I reluctantly handed it over to him.

“Do you know Korean by any chance?”

“No, but that’s the point.”

I shook my head, I had a faint suspicion of what he was planning to do.

“Don’t piss them off too much, or they might send the cavalry in too.”

He grinned at me and pressed the receiver button.

“This is all you’ve got? Come and get me, sons of a bitches.”

The response was immediate. I heard some shouted Korean insults, then instructions being given.

“Two are coming by the eastern stairway. And the elevator is blocked.”

“How many people in total?”

“Six.”

Banning nodded and got his gun in his hand. He looked me over with a queer expression.

“Are you ready?”

I looked at him, confused. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Then let’s go.”

“Wait, let me go first.”

Banning cocked up an eyebrow at me, but didn’t protest when I took the stairs before him. I fixed the automat hanging on my back and took out my handgun instead, it was more precise, which is what I needed now. I peeked out to the corridor, there was no movement on it yet. I signalled to Banning that he can step out too, when I heard noises from the east end of the hallway. When a foot appeared, stepping out from the cover of the wall, I was already prepared. I shot that foot, then the falling guy’s head. His partner was a bit more cautious, he started shooting from behind the wall, but was careless enough to leave his hand uncovered. Besides, he was shooting blindly, while I wasn’t, so he had absolutely no chance against me. I shot his hand so he dropped his gun and fell to the floor, making himself a perfect target. He got his respective headshot too. When I turned back to Banning to cover the western end of the corridor, I saw him staring at me.

“What? Do you think I got into this group by batting my eyelashes?”

He smirked. “I was going to say that next time leave one of them alive. Let’s keep moving.”

The radio came alive again, this time with orders to regroup. I guessed that the boss wasn’t about to lose more people just like this.

“They are regrouping on the first floor.” I interpreted to Banning, who only nodded, and kept walking towards the western stairway.

We went up on those stairs in complete silence. Banning went first while I covered his back, although there wasn’t much chance of someone appearing from that direction. I matched his pace pretty easily, and I think he deliberately slowed down so I could keep up with my short legs. How very considerate. On the ground floor, when we made certain that no one was close to us, he pulled me into an empty room.

“We need to get information on their leader first.”

“How do you plan to do that?”

He stood close, looking down on me, which reinforced my feeling that I was indeed very short compared to him. He looked me over with the eye of a professional.

“Are you trained in hand-to-hand combat?”

I raised an eyebrow, he asks this after nearly beating the shit out of me not ten minutes ago?

“Not against men like you.”

Now he was the one confused. “What do you mean?”

“You’re military trained and twice my size. One blow was enough from you to almost floor me. There is just no way that I would choose hand-to-hand combat with you over just shooting you simple and square in the head.”

He took a step back and shook his head “You can’t shoot now.”

“Then I’ll let you manhandle things. I’ll watch your back.”

He thought it over, then shrugged. I guessed he found my reasoning impeccable. He peeked out to the corridor then slipped out of the room. I followed behind with my gun in my hand. Since I joined Banning, a strange calmness took me over. I guess my nerves were pretty shaken during these last five months, thanks to not knowing where my mission will take me. On missions I always felt partially at ease, without that I couldn’t have pulled off a cover. But there was always a certainty, a goal if you will, something clear at the end, be it either a success or a fail with an inevitable death. I liked to know exactly where I stood, but this last mission was too vague, and I lost my clear purpose. Now it was simple: free the President from the bunker, take back the White House. Not even a partner - which I usually didn’t have, and detested very much - could deter me from feeling calm, collected, confident.

Waking from my thoughts I heard footsteps coming in our direction. Banning stopped and leaned against the wall, trying to become one with it completely. I followed his lead, occasionally glancing behind us too. When he jumped the two Koreans - I knew one of them, the other was part of some other group - I was prepared to shoot if he were to get in a pinch. Of course he never needed my assistance, on the contrary, I was amazed how quickly he managed to take them out. When he made sure that both were out cold, he turned to me.

“Keep an eye on him.”

I nodded and aimed my gun at the guy’s forehead. Banning pulled the other into a room down the corridor then came back. We went back to the room and I helped Banning tie them to two chairs.

“I know him.” I pointed to the one sitting on the left. “He knows just as much as I do.”

Banning looked dubious, but shrugged his shoulders.

“We’ll see. Stay there, but don’t intervene.”

I nodded and remained where I was, behind his back, while he sat down on a couch in front of the two terrorists. He slapped both of them awake. The guy I knew woke first and looked around, confused for a while. Then he noticed me and his eyes narrowed. I waited for his mind to put the details together, and I clearly saw his mental process written on his face. First he was surprised to find me there, then he registered the restraints and that someone hostile was sitting opposite to him and I was standing behind that guy’s back. And then it clicked: I wasn’t on their side.

“Traitor.” he hissed at me in Korean.

I only smiled, but Banning slapped him clear on the face.

“Okay, assholes, who’s running the show?”

The two guys looked at each other then back at Banning. Jun-ho, my ex-teammate glanced up at me and spat on the floor. This earned another smack from Banning.

“Don’t look at her, look at me. Do you know English? Do they teach that where you come from?”

I saw him fingering a small pocket knife and his whole cool behaviour earned the attention of the terrorists. I knew that they knew some English at least, but I could translate anytime if needed.

“‘Cause you know what they teach me? How to extract information from people like you.”

The guys looked at each other again and they started laughing, Jun-ho first. He looked back at Banning, then up at me and said in a cold tone in perfect English:

“Extract information from that cunt over there, I know she likes it rough.”

I don’t know what he expected we would do, probably that I would be angered or shamed, but what happened surprised both of us I guess. Because Banning simply stabbed his knife into his neck, killing him almost instantly. I saw the colour drain from the other guy’s face in an instant. He looked frantically between me and Banning, while I raised an eyebrow and stood there stupefied, I simply had no idea what to do. But Banning said I shouldn’t intervene, so I didn’t. He sat back on the couch in the meanwhile and cleaned the knife on the pants of the terrorist.

“I liked your friend, he seemed like a funny guy.”

I saw pure terror in the eyes of the guy and I knew Banning got what he wanted. This guy will sing like a bird now. I walked to the door and peeked out, there was no movement on the corridor. I turned back to a sudden yell, suppressed by Banning putting his hand over the terrorist’s mouth. The knife was sticking out of the guy’s tigh and I heard Banning murmur.

“English.”

I remained by the door, in case there were anyone around to hear that yell. The guy started to speak, but I was immersed in my own thoughts to actually listen to what he says. Instead I wondered who Banning was, I guessed he had military training, and he didn’t deny it when I told him that either. Then I knew he was Secret Service, although I just couldn’t figure out how he could’ve survived the massacre inside the House a few hours ago. He didn’t seem like the type to just go and hide away while his comrades were being slaughtered. I was shaken from my thoughts by a grunt, Banning apparently got everything he wanted and he was doing away with the second guy too. I joined him on the couch while he phoned the Pentagon. He put us on speaker again.

“His name is Kang Yeonsak.”

I stared at him for a while and there was silence on the other side too.

“He’s the head of the KUF.” I muttered.

This all made sense now, this attack, the risk they’ve taken, everything.

“Agent Cameron, do you know this man?” this was a new voice.

“No, sir, but I’ve heard of him before. He’s one of the most wanted terrorists in the world. My initial mission was exactly to find out something about him and his organization.”

“Well, mission accomplished.” Banning whispered beside me which earned him a death glare.

“40 commandos breached the gate, there are 28 left.” he continued after a short pause.

“How do we know we can trust the information?”

“I just asked them nicely.”

I suppressed a snicker which was highly inappropriate in this situation, sitting before two dead guys.

“With a force that size, I have men who can sweep him up in short order.”

This again was some new voice, I was getting lost in all the officials on the other side. But what he said was highly dubious, these commandos that Kang gathered…

“Sir, this is not going to be a cakewalk. These sons of a bitches are pretty fucking tough.” Banning worded my thoughts just like I would’ve done.

“I have the toughest fucking guys in the world.”

We looked at each other with Banning, dismay visible on both our faces.

“Sir, it won’t be so easy to just waltz in here with the whole army. Kang is intelligent, he prepared for this thing for months, he shouldn’t be taken lightly.” I said.

“I don’t take anything lightly.” the voice on the other side went freezing cold. “We only need to know how to get inside that bunker.”

I sighed, exasperated. Yeah, really, if it was so easy to get inside that bunker, it wouldn’t have been built in the first place. By the time any troop could possibly get there, the President and all the other officials, along with Kang would be long dead. I had no doubt that Kang was prepared for this possibility too, and that in any other event, he would choose running away over killing himself. But if things come to the worst, he will kill himself along with everyone else in the bunker. It seemed that Banning was of the same opinion.

“Once those blast doors close, you don’t. They’re nuclear hardened. Sir, your men need to know what the hell they are dropping into. Do not launch anything until we do some recon.”

“Alright. We’ll be in touch.”

The line was broken from the other side and Banning pocketed the phone.

“Who was that asshat?” I asked him.

“I’m guessing that’s General Clegg, Army Chief of Staff.”

“He’s very eager to blow up our asses.”

I stood up, getting restless. My head was a bit light, thanks to the adrenaline and the fact that I’ve been up more than two days without a wink of sleep. If I remained for two more minutes on that couch I would’ve fallen asleep. I stretched my arms a bit, getting the stiffness out of my shoulders.

“It’s time we talk.” Banning announced.

I glanced at him, then shrugged my shoulders.

“Can’t we get something to eat first? I’m starving.”

Banning looked at me like I just punched him in the face. I rolled my eyes, military guys can get so clenched up sometimes. I went back to the couch and sat down beside him again.

“I take it as a no.”

“Tell me all about that mission, and what you did today.”

It sounded pretty much like an order, and I wasn’t the kind to take it well if people ordered me around. I crossed my arms before my chest and gave him a dark look which he didn’t seem to notice.

“There is nothing much to tell. Besides, I don’t see how that is relevant to whatever we’re gonna do after this.”

“You were gone off the map for five months. I guess there is pretty much to tell.”

A staring contest ensued. After half a minute of me staring into those steel blue eyes and wondering how awkward it would be to jump him right there and then, I gave up.

“Alright, alright. I can’t recount every moment of those five month, so just tell me what you want to know.”

I might have seen a faint flicker of a smile forming in the corner of his mouth, but that was quickly gone.

“I take it your team wasn’t part of the KUF before.”

“Was that a question?” he glared daggers at me so I quickly retreated “No, we weren’t. I suspect that there were other teams like mine among the terrorists today, but I can’t be sure.”

“What was your job here?”

“Act as security detail, take out the secret service agents ordered to guard us, then to secure the House from the inside.”

Banning furrowed his brows at the secret service part and I looked away from him. In retrospect, that was a very stupid thing to do, for a trained spy especially.

“Did you kill anyone?”

I sighed and closed my eyes a for a moment. I still saw that guy’s face in front of me, and his eyes, boring into mine.

“I had to.” I said, my voice strangely even and cold.

Now, I’m not a very emotional person, you can’t be, the first thing to kill you on a mission is to become emotional. You have to be detached, keep a clear head and focus. But now it was different. I never signed up for killing one of our own. That wasn’t in the job description and it sickened me that I had done it. That I “had to” didn’t make it any more easier.

I looked back up at Banning, a bit scared of what I’ll see in his eyes, but to my greatest surprise he wasn’t angry or disgusted. He looked somewhat compassionate, like he could understand why I did what I did and that I wasn’t happy about it at all.

“Okay, one more question. Did you have an affair with any of the terrorists?”

I blinked twice, trying to comprehend his words. An affair?

“Why…?”

“Are you emotionally compromised?”

My mouth fell open for a moment I guess. I just couldn’t believe my ears. I started laughing, for real, a good, hearty laugh. Wiping away tears from the corner of my eyes, I answered the question.

“No. But that was funny.”

Banning was utterly confused and a bit angry, I could see.

“It was a valid question.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Because Jun-ho said that I like it rough? Oh, please. You forget that the person he knew was never actually me. She might have liked it rough, she might have boasted about her affairs, you know, in a mercenary team being the only woman… But that is just a persona.”

I stood up again, not being able to sit around anymore.

“Are we going somewhere or will we just relax our asses here?”

Banning stood up too with that continuous frown on his face which started to really bring out the worst in me. I was tired, excited, annoyed and these three things didn’t make me one bit more amiable.

“Let’s go down to the canteens. We’ll split up, to cover more ground. You can shoot anyone you see.”

Now that was something I did like.

“Roger.”

I did a mock salute to him, but saw that he took it the wrong way again.

“Christ, I see someone shoved a stick up your ass too.”

Without waiting for a retort I walked to the door.

“I’ll go west, see you down at the kitchen.”

* * *

_Thanks for reading! I'll post the second part soon. Please review, it means a lot :)_

 


	2. Chapter 2

_Second part, I hope you enjoy! Please review, it means a lot :)_

* * *

The House closely resembled a battlefield. Dead bodies were scattered everywhere, nobody took the time and effort to clean up the mess. The walls were decorated with blood and a thousand bulletholes. Walking the corridors was like one of those scary video games, where you had no idea what moment a zombie will jump out from a dark corner. The hairs stood on my neck and my senses were tingling, the danger was present and I proceeded cautiously from door to door. I had no idea how and where the other teams were positioned and didn't want to suddenly meet up with an armed enemy. I walked past empty rooms and some windows, fortunately it was dark outside and inside too, so there was no way I was seen by anyone. The radio was still on in my ear, but I guessed that they have turned it off, as a precaution, after we escaped from the basement, as it was silent for a long while now. I tore the plug out of my ear, it started to bother me and I knew that if I was this irritable, I was at the end of my line. I needed some sleep, or something to keep me awake and focused or there will be trouble.

It struck me while I was descending on the stairs, that I knew close to nothing about Kang's plans and I was sure that there is much Banning haven't told me yet. I will be sure to interrogate him once we meet up, I decided. I just turned the last corner to the canteen when I noticed him standing in one of the alcoves. He was not alone. Another man - I guessed from the suit and the height - was standing opposite to him, holding a cigarette. I nodded to Banning and he nodded back in response. I took it that he knew the other man, for he was relaxed. That somewhat reassured me, so I lowered my gun, though I still had a bad feeling. I didn't know we missed another Secret Service agent while we were securing the House.

The man only turned around when I was already standing beside him, and then it was too late. I recognized him and him me too, he was part of the Korean PM's security detail too, meaning he worked for Kang.

"Shit." I uttered, but before I could raise my gun he simply pressed the burning end of his cig into my right eye.

I screamed out and clutched to my eye, backing into the other wall. I heard the sounds of a struggle and a table upturned in the dining room behind me. I stood there, back to the wall, trying to calm myself down. I wasn't sure if I was permanently blinded or not, and the panic started to spread inside me quickly. I willed it away, along with the considerable pain of the burnt wound. By the time I managed to get hold of my gun again and with slightly shaking hands went to assist Banning and shoot the other bastard's head, Banning had already taken care of the business. I saw him kneeling above the other men, saying something to him. I stepped closer, keeping my gun pointed at the guy's head, but Banning pushed my arm aside.

"Sit down."

I backed up to a table and sat on it, watching them closely. Banning apparently managed to convince the guy to tell Kang that he was dead, and the mission was over. This would give us a few undisturbed hours at least. When he was done with the radio message, Banning mercilessly stabbed this guy in the neck too. I lowered my gun and put it away in it's holster on my hip, not wanting to shoot Banning by mistake with my shaking hand. He came up to me, with a concerned expression on his face.

"Let me see it."

"No."

I tried to slip away from his reach, but he grabbed my arm, keeping me in place.

"Come on, show me."

He gently but firmly pulled my hand away from my eye and turned my head towards him. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his expression while he examined the damage. When he tried to pull my eyelids apart I goaned and yanked my head away.

"This fucking hurts!"

"You have to open your eye."

I heard his voice not two inches from my face. It was unusually soft and coercing.

"No can do."

He sighed and tilted my head back towards him.

"Open it, this is an order."

"You're not my fucking boss, Banning."

"Shut the fuck up and open your eyes for God's sake!"

The sudden yelling prompted me to pop my eyes open, which hurt like hell.

"Fuck."

"That's better."

I tried to ignore the pain which shot through my eye every time I blinked. I saw Banning closely examining the wound and wondered if he did it on purpose, or I just rubbed him the wrong way and that's why he lost control, elevating his voice.

"How is it?" I asked after half a minute of his careful observations.

He straightened out and smirked.

"Some singed eyelashes and a nasty burnt mark on your lid, but otherwise..." he lifted two fingers in front of my face "How many fingers I'm showing?"

I sneered, showed him my two middle fingers and jumped down from the table. I heard him chuckle, that was new, until now he displayed no signs of appreciating my humour. I walked into the kitchen and plopped down on a chair this time.

"You said we could get something to eat."

"And I'll get you some ice for that."

"And maybe a coffee?"

He looked back at me, annoyed slightly and I smiled widely at him in response. He rolled his eyes and started for the back of the kitchen where I suspected the pantry was. I leaned back on the chair and tried not to fall asleep. A few minutes later Banning was back with some tea cookies, cold coffee and a bowl of ice cubes. From the latter he put one on a napkin and without any warning pressed it onto my eye.

"OUCH! Watch out... ! Fuck."

"Quit whining, it'll get better. Hold this."

I took the napkin while glaring daggers at him. I reconsidered my initial attraction towards him, now I wanted nothing more than punch his face in. And maybe have sex after. I quickly turned my attention towards the cookies and munched down a few of them. My stomach growled in dissatisfaction, but that was all it would get for the time being. The coffee wasn't just cold, but awful as well, I tried not to throw up and honestly hoped that drinking it was worth the effort. I changed the ice in the napkin frequently and the pain had really subsided after a few minutes. Looking around my glance fell upon the dead man in the dining room, so I decided to start asking questions now. As good a time as any.

"Who was that?"

Banning followed my gaze, though I was certain he knew who I was referring to - there really wasn't that many people around. I saw the look in his eyes change, from cold and hard to something bitter and I realised it was a sensitive topic.

"Ex Secret Service." he murmured.

So much information, but I decided not to push the matter.

"So, will you tell me what's going on here? I'm kinda in the dark."

Banning leaned back in his chair with a sigh.

"Yeah, sorry. Kang wants us to empty the DMZ, call back the 7th fleet and a helicopter."

"Hm… Just that? And what if we don't?"

"The usual, he'll kill the hostages. And probably blow up a few nuclear missiles while he's at it."

"Sorry, what?"

"Do you know of a system called Cerberus?"

I pondered for a second or two, the name was familiar, just didn't know where I've heard it before.

"No."

"It's a system that can destroy all of our nuclear warheads. And it happens to be installed on the computers in the bunker."

"What a wonderful coincidence."

"Yeah… And not only that, but all of the three people who have the codes to the system happen to be in the bunker too."

I sighed, again. "Peachy."

The ice was all but melted and the napkin sogged from the water. I put it down and prodded at my wound to see how bad it hurt now. To my surprise it was considerably better.

"How is it?" asked Banning, glancing at me through half lidded eyes.

"Better. It seems I don't have to wear an eyepatch for the rest of my life after all."

Banning laughed then stood up. "I bet you would've made a wonderful pirate."

It took some time to get over that fact that he laughed and joked with me, but I responded in kind.

"No doubt about it. What's the plan, boss?"

He lifted an eyebrow at me, suspicious. "I thought I'm not your boss."

"You can be. But just for this mission."

"Deal. Just do some recon. This time together, just to keep your other eye safe."

"Ha-ha. Hilarious, Banning."

"Mike."

He walked out before I could gather my jaw from the floor. Just like he transformed into another person. He would've made a wonderful CIA agent.

* * *

After half an hour of walking the hallways, which were literally dead, Banning's phone rang again. I only noticed because he punched the bluetooth, this time he didn't put me on speaker.

"Yes."

He stopped and turned to me, then the frown on his face deepened.

"Sir, do not launch an attack before we're done with the recon."

I rolled my eyes, but he was seriously angered.

"Wait, let us get to the roof first."

I don't know what he heard next, but he uttered 'Fuck.' and motioned to me to follow him. We ran as fast as we could to the main staircase leading up to the roof.

"Wait, wait, wait. There is a military grade air defence weapon on the roof. I hope they are not…"

"Oh, fuck it all. Sir, they have a weapon on the roof!"

We continued running until we came upon the door leading to the room just below the roof.

"They've launched the choppers, they'll be here in a few minutes." he took the automat in his hand and motioned for me to stand behind him. "We're going in, take out the hostiles and any weapon we see."

"Aye, captain. Let's go."

He kicked down the door and burst in, me following close behind. There were two guys inside, one Banning took out, the other got a bullet in his brain, my trademark. We saw that a heavy machine gun was being lifted up to the roof.

"They know about the attack." I highlighted the obvious.

Banning nodded sternly and went to the control panel of the gun. The boxes that once contained it bore the word 'HYDRA' all over them in capital letters.

"Abort the fucking mission." I heard Banning growl into the bluetooth.

The control panel flashed red with the sign 'ACCESS DENIED'. The shooting started a second later, just when two other terrorist appeared in the door. This time they had the better ground, so we had to take cover with Banning. We returned the fire and one of them was hit on his arm, but that wasn't enough, we had to do something about the HYDRA too.

"I'll go up and take care of the HYDRA. Can you hold out here?"

"Of course. Go!"

I covered him while he ran to the ladder leading up, picking up an RPG on his way. It didn't take long to eliminate the two guys still shooting at me, and I walked back to the control panel, trying to gain access, unsuccessfully again. I was sure that those choppers stood no chance against the HYDRA and was about to go help Banning when I heard an explosion from not too far away. The shooting had stopped, so I assumed that was Banning taking out the HYDRA. I was just about to relax when another explosion shook the ground beneath my feet. I instinctively turned back towards the door, which was lucky, because otherwise the blast would've blown me into smithereens. Like this it just smashed me clean into the opposite wall, knocking me out for a while.

* * *

When I awoke I was disoriented. I sported a nasty concussion, it was hard not to throw up at the swirling room around me. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths, while trying to figure out if my skull cracked or the blood on my neck was just my scalp being ripped a bit. It was the latter, fortunately. When I opened my eyes again I was faced with the reality that half of the White House was just gone. The top floor was simply blown away in the explosion, there was nothing left of the roof either. I tried not to think too deep about what had happened to Banning. When I felt up for it, I tried to stand up, only to have a sharp pain shoot through my left leg. I looked at my thigh and found a piece of the wall lodged in it, just above the knee. I felt the nausea hit me again as I looked at that piece sticking out of my leg. I gently pressed down on the flesh around it to see how much blood was coming out. I knew that I probably shouldn't remove it, lest I wanted to bleed out on the spot, but it was impossible moving around with that too. I felt the pain when I touched the area, but there wasn't much blood. I proceeded to take down my belt and strapped it around my thigh, upwards from the wound, pulling it painfully tight. I had some patches in my vest too, I took out one of them and the bandages. I moved that piece of wall around a bit to see how deeply it was lodged. It hurt like hell, that's for sure, so I stopped moving it immediately. I looked away when I yanked it out from my leg. It hurt less than I thought and there wasn't a flood of blood following, no ripped arteries it seemed. I was very glad about that. I bandaged it up and stood up with a bit of difficulty. I checked my gun, my automat was nowhere to be seen, but I found another handgun, it probably belonged to one of the late terrorists. I stepped to the ledge which was once the west wing and looked down, searching for… something. I decided to search the ground floor, if there were any survivors, they had to be there.

Descending the stairs was a nightmare incorporated. Every step was like someone stabbed a white-hot rod into my thigh. The bandage was slowly soaked with blood by the time I got down to the ground floor. I had my gun in my hand in case someone was looking for survivors, but I didn't meet anyone. I proceeded slowly, partially due to my wound, partially to caution. Turning into the third room I saw a figure laying on top of what was once a table. He crushed the thing when he fell from above, it seemed. I carefully looked around before kneeling down beside Banning. I tried to slap him awake, but either I was too gentle, or he was too deep in sleep, because he didn't even budge.

"Shit."

I pulled the zipper down on his vest and traced his torso, looking for any wounds. While doing this examination I couldn't help thinking that in any other situation this would be the start of another thing, and I sniggered.

"What's so funny?"

Banning was looking at me a bit disoriented. I found a nail sticking out from his side, fortunately it didn't hit anything vital. I pulled it out of him which earned me a groan, not one of the sexy ones, unfortunately.

"Hello, Sleeping Beauty. I haven't even kissed you yet."

The words just rolled down from my tongue without thinking them over first. I heard Banning laugh softly then he showed me his middle finger. I smiled, although frankly, I was a bit embarrassed about what I said.

"Hilarious, Cameron."

"Lee."

I sat back down on my heel, stretching out my wounded leg. The bandage was soaked with blood and the wound was throbbing painfully. Banning propped himself up on his elbows then sat up, looking at my leg.

"Let me see it."

He seemed perfectly fine, but a little tired. He must've had a concussion too from falling this much, but he showed no signs of being hurt at all. I was jealous of his self-composure, although I was trained to take the pain, I was never able to hide it this well.

"Do you have some weird fetish with wounds, or what?"

He blinked at me, slightly confused, but then he realised I was referring to my eye. He grinned while he unwrapped the bandages.

"I guess that's not what people usually ask you to show."

He glanced up at me and I saw a twinkle in his eyes which was never there before. I was astonished, was he flirting with me? Sitting in a blown up White House, in the middle of a terrorist attack?

"No, they're only interested in my shooting skills." I said with a sigh.

We looked at each other then burst out laughing. It swept away some of the stress and pain of the day, refreshing me a bit. Banning suddenly pulled on the bandages.

"OUCH! Careful!"

"It's not that bad." he commented.

"Oh, really?! Then you try climbing some stairs with it."

"Chill out, it's almost done."

I dropped my head back to look at the… remains of the ceiling. It was a sorry sight, but a building was just a building, nothing compared to the lives taken.

"I'm totally chill. Just… I don't like this, not one bit. This should never had happened. Never. And you know… it was my job to prevent this, and I failed, gloriously."

"I'm sure you've tried everything you could…"

"But that everything wasn't enough! You have no idea how it feels to have this thing rest on my chest."

I admit, I was becoming a bit hysterical, so it was for the better that Banning yanked on the bandages again, causing a sharp pain to shoot across my leg.

"Fuck."

Banning patted my shin and stood up then offered his hand to me. I took it and he pulled me on my feet quite easily, steadying me when I wobbled, the sudden weight was a bit too much for my leg to take.

"Actually, I know how you feel like, but take it from me, that you can do no good if…" he stopped abruptly and grunted, then punched his bluetooth "Yes, sir."

He let go of my hand and we finally stepped down from the table while he put us on speaker again.

" _Are you alright, son?_ "

"Fine."

" _And Agent Cameron?_ "

"Still kicking, sir."

"With all due respect, Mr. Speaker, but your team needs some serious fucking help."

I heard some gasps from the other side, then some rustling.

" _This is General Clegg, Army Chief of Staff. I am ordering you to stand down._ "

We exchanged wide-eyed glances with Banning.

"Remove your only eyes and ears from the ground. Genius." said he with an edge in his voice.

This General Clegg was becoming a huge pain in the ass.

" _We need to pull you out of there before we lose another hostage! I am giving you a direct order._ "

"Perhaps you should've listened to us, before sending in your troops, sir." I cut in, just couldn't bear it anymore.

" _I'm gonna hold you in for subordination, Agent…_ "

"Newsflash, asshole. We don't work for you."

Banning pocketed the phone when a heated argument erupted among the Pentagon officials. I found a flat surface I could sit on and what wouldn't break apart beneath me, and rested my leg a bit. I saw on Banning's face that the argument was still ongoing, then he nodded to me.

"We're good."

I sighed, it was really a good thing that we didn't get pulled out, but our chances were pretty slim. Banning was about to turn off the bluetooth when confusion flashed across his face.

"My wife?" he asked, incredulous.

I was a bit baffled. He had a wife? But there was no ring on his finger. I shook my head, it wasn't my business, after all.

"I have to take this." he said to me, then walked over to the other side of the room.

I paid no attention to his conversation, the throbbing pain in my leg distracted me enough. I started pacing up and down to ease the pain a bit. Then I checked my gun, unfortunately I was running low on bullets. Banning walked back to me when I was looking for a spare magazine in my vest.

"I have some spares, if you need them."

"I might. What's your plan?"

"We'll flush the bastard out, that's what. The Pentagon gave us half an hour to do that, and then Kang will get everything he wants."

"Great. Where to?"

"The control room."

* * *

_The third part is still under construction, but I'm working on it. Thanks for reading :)_


	3. Chapter 3

_So, this will be the last chapter for now, but I'm in no way finished. :) Expect more when London Has Fallen comes out (hopefully sooner than later ;)). Also, I'm planning to write some fillers to go between the two movies, those will be up shortly too._

_Thanks for reading, and please review! :)_

* * *

We hadn't met anybody on our way, which was for the better, because I could only limp, slow like a fucking slug. Banning slowed down to match my pace, but it was getting ridiculous after a while. I said that he should just go on without me but he refused. When we reached our destination, he sat down before the computer and did some modifications in the camera system, shutting off Kang's every communication to the outside. Then he opened a video conference with the bunker. Kang's face flashed on the monitor a second later.

"What's the matter, Kang? You've seen a ghost?"

The Korean smiled slowly, but I saw in his eyes that he was angry.

"I guess you don't know who you can trust. It's over. No more televised executions. No chopper. No more negotiating with you and the United People's Front of Who Gives a Fuck."

" _I will send the President out, one piece at a time._ "

"It won't matter. Because whatever you think you've accomplished, you won't be alive to see it."

" _Shut him down._ " Kang ordered one of his subordinates, but nothing happened.

Banning leant forward a little to give more emphasis to his words.

"Oh, you're not shutting me out, Kang. I'm here to stay."

" _I've underestimated you, it won't happen again._ "

The smile now plastered on Kang's face couldn't be more fake and angry. Banning was really good with getting on people's nerves, it seemed.

"There is no 'again'. You're gonna die down there alone, cut off from the rest of the world." Mike stood up "My advice: save the last bullet for yourself. 'Cause if you don't, I'm gonna stick my knife through your brain. But don't worry, I'm gonna leak the photos of your body to the press. 'Cause I know you like that kind of shit."

With this he terminated the video connection and stepped away from the control panel. He let out a sharp breath, he didn't seem as tough and confident as he pretended to be just now. I leaned against the doorframe and smiled at him when he turned my way.

"Wow. Remind me not to get on your wrong side."

This elicited a small smile from him.

"You've already been there."

He stood beside me while we checked our guns, and he took a look at my bandage too, to see if it needed to be changed. After determining that I'll be alright, about which I really wasn't so sure, Banning walked out on the corridor.

"Come on, we must go to the front door."

"Because that's the only place with direct access to cameras."

"Exactly."

* * *

We took our places by the stairs. I was on higher ground, taking sniper position, from where I could see most of the front hall. Unfortunately, when they built the House, they didn't count on things like this happening, so the huge columns partially obstructed my view. But it was still the best we could get. Laying on my stomach on the stairs wasn't so comfortable, but I needed to stay still and out of sight, and this was the only available option. Banning gave me a few spare magazines and took position by the wall, turned towards me, waiting for my signals. The task was pretty simple again: take out Kang when possible.

Just as Mike predicted, Kang appeared in a few minutes, dragging a hostage along and there were four other terrorists on his side. The hostage was a woman, beaten bloody, the sight made my blood pressure hit the roof. I showed Mike a thumb, the signal for Kang being there, then one and four fingers, for the hostage and the hostiles respectively. He nodded.

We both heard Kang urging the hostage out in the open, we had little time till she reached the place from where she'll be visible for all the cameras. One of the terrorists stepped forward, successfully covering Kang. I cursed under my breath, but there was no time to lose anymore. The hostage was out of my sight so I took a deep breath and shot the guy standing next to Kang. This saved the woman, but Kang escaped while we were occupied with gunning down his men. Banning ran after him when the coast was clear, but came back a minute later, crestfallen.

"Just talked to Pentagon. They are giving him what he wants."

My face fell, whatever happened to the 'US doesn't negotiate with terrorists' mantra?

"Fuck it, fuck."

I wanted to punch something and scream but that wouldn't have been professional. Instead I gathered myself up from the stairs and searched the dead guys for spare mags. They had none, which was very unprofessional, and upset me all the more. Before I could find a punchable wall though, Banning's voice cut through my thoughts.

"Let's move, Kang will send some guys here, now that he knows where we are."

I nodded and limped after him along the corridors again. After a while my leg started to hurt so much I had to ask for a time out. The bandage was soaked again and Banning offered to change it. I didn't protest. We walked into a room with big, comfy armchairs and I sat down in one of them, stretching my leg, setting it on a puff. Mike set about unwrapping the bandages again while I dropped back my head on the armchair, eyeing the ceiling. In this part of the House, there still was a ceiling. The stress of the long day and the tiredness seeped into my bones slowly, spreading a numb feeling to my fingertips. This was an unwanted sensation, the nightmare of every marksman, where you tire to the point you can't feel the trigger anymore. I was way past that point.

"I'm so fucking tired."

Even my voice was numb, monotone. Mike looked up at me, then returned his gaze to my leg.

"No wonder. It's been more than 24 hours."

"Awesome. That means I've been up for 50 hours without sleep. Close to my personal best."

"And how much is that?"

"62 hours. That was a long ass mission. I had tons of coffee, after that I couldn't even look at any brown liquid for weeks."

The memory made me smile and chuckle, although it wasn't that happy. But it was one of the better ones, and was certainly better than this day will be.

"What's your record?" I asked him, still keeping my eyes on the ceiling.

If we wouldn't have been talking, I would've fallen asleep shortly. My eyelids felt heavy and I was utterly tired, every muscle in my body was sore. Even breathing was tiring. At this rate I won't be able to lift a gun anymore, let alone aim properly. I wriggled my fingers to get some feeling back to them.

"60 hours. You win."

Mike's voice seemed to be coming from somewhere far away. It was a struggle to get myself talking.

"Cool, what do I get for a prize?"

"A long sleep soon and hopefully hospital treatment."

I snapped my head back towards him, the wound was bandaged again, but something in his voice told me that it wasn't as fine as it should've been. It made me a bit more alert too.

"Is it that bad?"

"Not  _that_  bad, but still needs treatment. The bleeding won't stop."

"Fucking awesome."

The bloodloss could've accounted for part of my exhaustion too. I had no idea how much I lost, and we didn't have anything to drink for hours. I dropped my head back again, but Banning pulled on my hand.

"Hey, we must keep going. I'm gonna leave you here if you fall asleep."

"You wouldn't."

He raised an eyebrow, like he was saying 'are you sure?' and I capitulated my case.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming."

He pulled me into standing position again. His eyes were concerned, but I shrugged it off, this was no time to worry about myself. We had a mission to carry out, and with every passing minute it was beginning to look impossible after all. This feeling lingered since the explosion, that saving the President was impossible, no matter what we do. And now we lost the chance to kill Kang too. I saw no hope, but apparently Banning wasn't about to give up just yet. He was the only thing that kept me going, which was a strange feeling, as I have never relied upon anyone before. Sure, I had liaisons, and supervisor agents, but when on the mission I was physically alone, and I always had to make my decisions. This was the first time I've let anyone order me around in a situation like this, and I had to admit, it wasn't so bad. I didn't mind the ordering around as long as Mike was the one doing it. He earned my respect. Now he looked out the window, musing, then nodded, like in affirmation to a thought he had.

"We'll go to the bunker and try to catch them when they come out with the hostages."

I gave him a thumbs up.

"Cool plan, boss."

He tried to hide his grin at that, but failed.

"You ready?"

"Why are you asking me that again? Let's go."

We kept a steady pace towards the bunker, and met with no one at all. I told Banning a thousand times to go on without me, but he still insisted that he won't leave me alone. Even if we'll be too late. When we heard the sound of the rotor we were almost at the elevator, walking down a corridor on the side of the garden. We could see as the chopper landed and how the terrorists and hostages streamed out on the grass, all clad in long black robes and their heads covered.

"Cunning bastard."

Banning shook his head beside me and punched the bluetooth, calling the Pentagon. They've only picked up when the chopper was already in the air.

"Sir, you cannot let them go." I heard Banning say just before yet another explosion shook the ground. We both jumped to the window to see the chopper crashing into the lawn, the burning pieces illuminating the greyness of the dawn.

"What the hell just happened?"

Mike fished the phone out of his pocket and put us on speaker.

" _I'm sorry to report, but the President was on the helicopter._ "

"And Kang?"

" _Kang killed himself. And all the other hostages._ "

Mike glanced at me as I furiously shook my head.

"No, no, this isn't right, it can't be -"

" _Agent Cameron, I'm afraid -_ "

"No, I mean Kang, he wouldn't kill himself. Not if he had another choice."

" _What do you mean?_ "

"He's still in the bunker." Mike answered instead of me.

" _If Kang is still on the premises with the President, you can't let him leave._ "

"We won't."

Banning took away the phone and started off towards the elevator. I kept up with him the best I could, trying to gather every ounce of strength and energy left in me. We checked our weapons, I was almost out of bullets. Banning gave me his handgun while he handled his automat.

"You're the better shot."

I took position in front of the elevator door, pointing the guns forward. I would've kneeled if I could, this way I provided too good a target for my taste. Mike kneeled beside me, gun in hand, focus visible on his face.

"Are you ready?"

I glanced down at him, annoyed.

"This is like the thousandth fucking time you ask me that. Why the fuck do you keep asking me that?!"

Before he had the chance to answer, the elevator door opened. Two armed Koreans were just before us, they both got their respective bullets in their heads. Banning ran out and attacked a third one, while I limped casually forward. A fourth guy appeared just in front of me and knocked one gun out of my hand, forcing me to shoot him in the leg, then in the head, wasting a bullet. From the corner of my eyes I saw Kang elevating his gun and I instinctively took a shot aiming at him. I was too slow and my aim was a bit off, so I only hit his shoulder while he could take two shots at me point blank. The first hit me square in the chest, like a sledgehammer. The second vent a bit to the side and that hurt even more if possible, even with the bulletproof vest I was wearing. I stumbled back, but remained standing, tasting iron on my tongue. Banning suddenly emerged from somewhere behind be and engaged in a fistfight with Kang. I leaned against the wall for support, breathing was becoming uncomfortable, to say the least, and I needed a few seconds to pull myself together. Then I noticed President Asher on the ground, bleeding through a bullet wound in his stomach. I tried to kneel down beside him, but my leg was protesting against the idea by giving out beneath me so I fell on my knees promptly.

"Mr President, press down on this."

I pulled a patch from my vest and pressed it onto his wound, placing his hand over it. He was pale and whispered something I couldn't hear. The pressure in my chest was getting uncomfortable and I had to cough, which brought up blood with it. Not good, not good at all.

"Cerberus…"

President Asher grabbed my hand and now I could make out what he was saying. He nodded in the direction of the bunker, and I followed his gaze. The computer screens flashed with red, and a timer was counting down from 3 minutes.

"Shit."

I staggered to my feet somehow, which caused another fit of coughing and incredible pain afterwards.

"I'll be right back." I told the President and dragged myself along the wall to the bunker.

I heard the grunts from Banning and Kang, but the Cerberus was priority, so I paid them no mind. I could only hope that Mike would be able to subdue the Korean and make good on his promise to him.

I activated the phone line to the Pentagon. They immediately answered.

"This is Agent Cameron..." another bout of coughing up blood "from the PEOC. How do I shut this thing down?"

" _Agent Cameron? What about the President?_ "

"He's alive. Tell me how to shut Cerberus down!"

" _Find a control panel marked 'Countermand'._ "

I looked around, now slightly dizzy, but found the panel quite quickly.

"Got it."

" _Now flip a blue and white switch, marked 'initiate recall'._ "

"Initiate recall. Got it."

The screen asked for the deactivation code next.

"I need the code, now."

A voice I never heard before started reading the deactivation code to me. I punched in the letters and numbers, repeating them in order, to not get anything wrong. The counter still was going down, we were short on time. I coughed up blood once or twice and my chest was becoming painfully tight, breathing was hard.

" _...hashtag._ "

"What?!"

" _Hashtag._ "

"The fuck…"

" _Shift 3!_ " Jacobs' voice cut in.

"Okay, go on!"

I entered the last of the code and then grabbed onto the chair in front of me. Another fit of coughing got me hard this time, I felt my lungs fill with something which definitely wasn't air. The screen signalled that the Cerberus had been shut down and I heard the cheers from the other side. Suddenly my legs gave way beneath me and I couldn't keep myself up anymore. I collapsed in front of the control panel, pain shooting through my chest when I hit the ground. Breathing was becoming impossible and panic spread through my system in a second. I faintly heard some voices calling to me, then I felt someone's hands under my head. Banning lifted me into the air, I recognized him from the smell of gunpowder, blood and sweat I'm sure both of us was wearing by then. The suffocating feeling just didn't go away and in that second I knew I would be dead shortly. There was no way we could make it out and to an ambulance before I would drown in my own blood. I choked and coughed up even more blood, tasting it on my tongue. My hands found Banning's vest and I grabbed it, held onto it, it was the only thing still keeping me attached to reality.

"Mike…"

I think I said it, but maybe my words were lost in the blood too. The pain in my chest got worse and worse, until I wanted to scream, my lungs burning, begging for air. Then it was gone in an instant, the pain vanished, and all my senses were drowned in a peaceful black silence.

* * *

I fancied hearing voices in my dream. Sometimes the voices were recognizable, taking form in my mind, sometimes they belonged to strangers, formless entities I couldn't imagine. The one I heard the most was definitely my mother's, it seemed she was beside me all the time. I remember wondering what the CIA told her, how I got injured. It wasn't the first time I had to lie to her about something. My parents had no idea about my real work.

Then there was a gruff, deep voice which most certainly belonged to Banning. He was a regular visitor too, it seemed, which was strange, because he was speaking to my Mum, and that was certainly against regulations. But oh well, which dream ever was rational? Because I was dreaming for sure. The afterlife sure was strange, it was all a flutter of dreams. But if death was like this, it wasn't so bad. Being dead wasn't so bad after all.

"She's waking up. Michael, will you be a dear and call a doctor?"

It was Mum's voice again. But who is Michael? I don't know any Michael. A bright light pushed through my closed eyelids and I popped my eyes open, just to close them again, shut tight, because the light was hurtful. The right eye was sore a bit, and I had to realize that I was alive. No way your injuries stayed with you in the afterlife, right?

"Mom?" said someone with the voice of a dying crow.

Guessing that was me, because it felt like my lips were moving. Great.

"I'm here, Sweetie, I'm here."

A hand took mine and squeezed it gently. It was a reassuring feeling, I was indeed alive and it was really my Mum beside me. I dared another attempt at opening my eyes and this time I managed to keep it open after a few blinks. Of course, I was in a hospital room, a big window with view over the Potomac was on my left, and on my right was sitting Jennifer Cameron, with her blond hair tied in a bun, eyes red, a faint smile on her face.

"Mum."

Apparently the crow was me, because this time I was sure I talked and only this disturbing noise came out. Clearing my throat was impossible, it was as dry as the Sahara. Mum took a glass of water with a straw sticking out of it from the stand beside her, and offered it to me. The first cool drops of the liquid felt like heaven on my dry throat. She just put the glass down when a woman in a white coat entered, Banning behind her. I don't know what he saw on my face, but Mike just flashed the widest grin I ever saw from him, making me smile too in response.

"Let me check your pupils first." said the lady doc by my side, and flashed a light in my eyes, one by one.

"Everything seems to be alright." she said, smiling at me "Can you try moving your legs?"

I did and they both moved, although the left one was hurting a bit.

"We removed the splinters from the wound, but the muscle will need a bit of therapy to regenerate. You overworked it."

I squinted at her, thinking thanks doc, you try taking down terrorists while reclining in a chair. I didn't say it, not before my mother, I still had no idea how much I can tell her.

"Now please lift your hands."

I tried and it wasn't a success. Not that they didn't move, it just hurt like hell. Now that I was pretty much awake, I felt the pain in my chest coming back, it was present as a dull ache at first, but slowly it became full-fledged torture.

"What the fuck?"

"Language, my dear." Mum patted my hand with a stern expression on her face and I shot her an annoyed glance.

"The shots to your chest broke two ribs and your collarbone. One of those ribs was dislocated from movement, and punctured your lung. It's a miracle you're still alive, Agent."

Yeah, well, I remembered the shots, and the drowning. But wait a minute, she called me Agent in front of Mum, so does she know? There was no cover story for the shots? And what about my five month disappearance? I was getting confused and it must've shown, because Mike stepped closer.

"They know." was all he said, like he was reading my mind.

I looked at Mum, who shook her head fervently. I knew that meant she was about to give me a speech.

"Do you know what it was like, seeing you being brought out of the White House after the terrorist attack? Your father noticed that it was you. And you disappeared for five months! We were beyond ourselves with worry and then -"

"Mrs Cameron, please, not now." Mike cut her off softly.

I was looking back and forth between them, it was too much to process. My parents knew everything now, it seemed, and Mum wasn't exactly happy about it. Not that I blamed her for it, she must really have been through hell in the past months. Just right now I was in no way capable to deal with her. And not to mention that she and Mike seemed to hit it off pretty well. Which raised one question.

"Exactly how long have I been out of it?"

Now it was their turn to look at each other. Finally the doc answered.

"You've been in a coma for almost a month."

"After I brought you out of the House they managed to bring you back, but you've been too long..." Mike trailed off here, it seemed difficult for him to recount the events "So, you fell into a coma. And now you're awake."

Mike smiled slowly, like he was still doubtful. Like he didn't expect me to wake up. Like he had already accepted the worst, and now was careful not to rejoice too early.

I looked out the window to get a bit away from everyone. The sun was shining brightly upon the scenery, and from this point of the city no destruction was visible. It made me forgot for a moment where I was and what had happened. Nobody said a word, I think they all accepted that I was in a bit of shock. Not just a bit, to be honest. I felt my head go heavy, my thoughts jumbled up, I couldn't think clear.

"I... I have to sleep now, I need a bit of time. After that would someone tell me exactly what happened, in detail, and in order?" here I glanced at my mother, she was the most likely not to do that.

I was trying to avoid hearing her recount of the events, she tended to be all over the place when telling a story.

"Of course, dear. I'm sure Michael will be glad to talk to you."

This Michael again, who the hell...?! And then I looked at Banning who nodded at Mum, and it clicked. Of course my dear mother would be calling him by his full name. I laughed, which surprised both of them.

"I love you Mum."

She smiled and shook her head, then got up.

"We'll leave you now. Rest well, Sweetie."

"Thanks."

Mike stopped in the door and glanced at me one last time before going out. I felt like he wanted to say something, but he remained silent, only smiled again as he disappeared and closed the door behind him. I fell asleep with that smile lingering in my mind.

* * *

_To be continued..._

_(oh and I plan to make some repairs on the chapters, grammar-wise and all, to make it a bit better :))_


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